COOKEVILLE – Ford Lincoln of Cookeville received high honors from Ford Motor Company on July 1. The staff of the dealership gathered with Ford’s upper management for the presentation of two major awards, both which give accolades to the local dealership as one of the nation’s premiere Ford stores. General Manager and Managing Partner Geoffrey Root accepted both awards on behalf of the employees.
The first award presented was Ford Motor Company’s President’s Award. The Ford President’s Award is awarded to dealers who provide the highest level of customer service, customer satisfaction and overall customer experience every day. In order to earn the President’s Award, Ford dealers must exceed customer expectations as measured by specific metrics. This prestigious award is how Ford salutes the top-performing Ford Dealerships who embrace their philosophies, achieving among the highest levels of customer satisfaction in both sales and service. Ford Lincoln of Cookeville has earned this honor for five consecutive years, which is incredibly difficult to achieve. Most Ford dealerships are elated to win the award once every few years and repeat honors are rare.
The second award presented by Ford Motor Company’s leadership was the One Ford Elite Award. The One Ford Elite award recognizes and rewards the top performing dealers with best-in-class recognition focused on key business metrics. This award, in particular, was an honor for the dealership to receive.
Greg Houston, Regional Manager Sales and Service for Ford Motor Company, addressed the staff of the dealership and stated, “In my entire time at Ford, I have never seen any dealership in the nation achieve the One Ford Elite honor three consecutive times.”
This honor is elusive, especially in succession, according to Ford leadership.
Root accepted the awards on behalf of his team and turned to his team immediately and said, “I may be the one holding this award, but if you are standing in this room and you can see me or hear me, you deserve the thanks, because we win as a team.”
Root was extremely proud of his entire staff, and he communicated the importance of these accolades to every department at the dealership. “It is extremely difficult to adequately express my gratitude. There is no way that any one team member or department could have earned these awards on their own. It took all of us pursuing a very difficult goal at exactly the same time—with exactly the same passion—to make this a reality. Ford Motor Company is the best auto manufacturer in the world, and we have the best team locally in the world as far as I am concerned. I am a firm believer that reward and blessings follow those who work diligently and seek to remain humble and hungry.”
Root expressed thanks, but also explained that these awards only motivate he and his team to be more excellent in the future. “Recognition is wonderful, but we certainly will not become victims of our own success. We will work harder every day to make sure our customers are treated with the utmost care. We realize we would not be able to come to work or receive any of these awards if it were not for our faithful and loyal customers and friends.”
Ford Lincoln of Cookeville is located at 1600 Interstate Drive in Cookeville. They can be found online at fordlincolnofcookeville.com.
